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Book Review


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The Islands of Chaldea (Hardback)

 

Author: Diana Wynee Jones
Completed by: Ursula Jones
Publisher: Harper Collins
RRP: £12.99, US $17.99
ISBN: 978 0 00 754223 9
Publication Date: 27 February 2014


Having been humiliated by her lack of visions during her initiation, Aileen fears that she will never be able to follow her family’s magical tradition. This is all reduced to an interlude in her life when she is summoned before the high king with her aunt. The king has decided that the time has come to bring down the barriers which separate the island of Logra from the other of Chaldea. This may only be done if a wise woman travels through the remaining islands collecting a male, from each, along the way. Because Aileen is aware of the secret plans she is forced to go on this long and dangerous journey...

The Islands of Chaldea (278 pages) is the last fantasy book written by Diana Wynne Jones; unfortunately she passed away before she could complete the manuscript, which was then completed by her sister Ursula Jones. If she is not an author that you are aware of, she wrote, among many others, the wonderful Howl’s Moving Castle (1986), from which Hayao Miyazaki created an award winning anime film.

This is a gentle, winsome piece of storytelling, which relies heavily on the attraction of its main characters to keep the reader engaged. Designed as a young person’s book there is little in the way of terror along the way, but there is enough high adventure to keep the reader interested. Ursula Jones has been able to complete the story seamlessly, there appears to be no obvious place where her sister’s manuscript ended and Ursula’s began.

Although set in a mythical land, there is no doubt, from the speech patterns and locations, that Diana meant this to be a trip through a mythologised Britain. She has filled her land with sea and air voyages, with singers, lost princes wrapped up in some wonderful prose.

It’s a bittersweet read, knowing that this is the last tale from such a talented writer and her sister has done such a good job of mimicking Diana’s style that it is unlikely to disappoint long term readers.

8

Charles Packer

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